When someone smirks, he or she smiles in a self-satisfied manner, generally because he or she is smug, that is, prideful in some accomplishment. The bridge sentence could be written, “As someone acting smugly would smirk, so would someone acting exuberantly X.” Exuberance is the state of having a great deal of energy, often in a cheerful manner. Such a state would likely lead one to grin.

Something that is oscillating swings back and forth in a regular pattern. A pendulum does just this—as in the pendulum in a grandfather clock. The simple word “swinging” must therefore be paired with something that has a swinging movement (just as a pendulum has an oscillating movement). Among the options provided, only the word “hinge” denotes a “thing.” This alone weighs heavily in its favor. Likewise, the word does describe the small joint of a door that is the tiny origin of the swinging motion of the larger door surface.

One can "advance" in a "forward" direction, just as one can "retreat" in a "backwards" direction.

The word “hale” is often used in the expression “hale and hardy” to describe someone who is healthy. The word “fit,” taken in the sense of “being in the state of fitness” (i.e. “good shape / health”) is relatively synonymous to “hale.” We are thus looking for a synonym for “sensitive.” All of the wrong answers are traps. Although sensitive has several meanings, none of them correlate to those meanings. The best option is “delicate,” as when the word sensitive is used to describe (e.g.) “sensitive skin,” that is, skin that is delicate and easily hurt.

Perhaps you have heard of the “aborigines” of Australia. They are the native inhabitants of the island who precede the later colonists. The word itself comes from the Latin for “from the origin,” as though to say, “a person living in an area from the origin of its inhabitation.” The word “aboriginal” is the general adjective used for any such people, animal, or plant. One can think of it as being relatively synonymous to “native.” We are thus looking for a synonym for “desiccated.” The word “desiccated” means “completely dried out.” Only one option fits that meaning, namely, “dry.”

Although it is somewhat normal to use the term “alien” to refer extra terrestrials, you likely also use the term when speaking of “alien peoples,” that is, people who are in a country having come from another. The word is related to the English “alias,” which is an alternative name that someone might use (to disguise his or her identity or merely for professional reasons). Both words come from the Latin for “other.” Thus, something that “alien” is foreign to a given area. The two words are relatively synonymous. The word “bombastic” describes someone who speaks in an overstated style, looking to be impressive with his or her oratory. The word “grandiloquent” literally means “large speaking,” in the sense of having an “inflated” style of speech, which is quite synonymous to “bombastic.”

When someone “intrudes” into a situation or space, he or she thrusts himself or herself into a something in which he or she is not welcome. Such an act could also be described as “encroaching,” which is relatively synonymous. When someone “disregards” something, he or she gives little attention to it—pays it little or no regard. Such an act could fairly be described as “ignoring” as well, which is the best option among those provided.

The Latin word “columen” means “height, peak, or summit. Generally, the word “culmination” is used to describe the “high point” of some activity. For instance, one could say, “The man’s dissertation was the culmination of four years or careful archival research and analysis.” The word can be used metaphorically in the sense of “summit,” meaning “high point.” Thus, the analogy is one of synonymy. The word “nadir,” on the other hand, means “lowest point,” as in, “After ten years of continued failure, George believed he finally had finally reached the nadir of his career and could only improve matters henceforth.” The best option, therefore, is “bottom.”

When we speak of someone’s destiny, we mean thereby to indicate what we believe will unquestionably happen in the future of his or her life. Such a person is believed to have a certain “fate.” Thus, to be “destined” is to be “fated” to something. The words are relatively synonymous. The word “acquitted” is most often used to describe the decision of a jury to declare someone not guilty of a crime, thus freeing that person of guilt. The word “exonerated” means “to forgive someone of guilt after considering the matter in question.” It comes from the Latin literally meaning, “To take the burden off of (someone).” The “-onerate” portion of the word is related to the word “onerous,” which means “burdensome.”

The word “superfluous” literally means “flowing over” in the sense of “being too much for the situation, hence overflowing the needs.” When something is thus overflowing, it is excessive—it exceeds the needs of a situation. Thus, we are looking for a synonym for “slender.” While the word “emaciated” might tempt you, it is far too strong of a word, indicating an unhealthy and sickly thinness. The better option is “lean,” which does not have these additional connotations and is thus a better synonym for “slender.”